You
look at your smartphone on your nightstand, and its three hours before you have
to get up to get ready for work. You’re tired, awake, and sweating again. You know
how the rest of the night’s going to progress. You’ll constantly toss and turn
over the next couple hours as you try to find a sleeping position that’s both
comfortable and allows for plenty of airflow (to cool you down). Is it time to
turn on the fan?
Does the above
scenario sound familiar? Do you often wake up during the night drenched in
sweat, while your partner next to you seems to be dozing away without a care in
the world? This could be the difference between being a hot and cold sleeper. Are you doomed to
repeat this cycle for years to come?
Sleep
helps our brain (and therefore our emotions) work properly, heals our heart and
blood vessels, balances hormones, supports growth and development, helps retain
memories, supports immune function, and improves overall efficiency. The less
sleep you get, the greater negative impact it will have on your health.
In
the end, this means that your surrounding environment plays a huge role in
determining body temperature while you slumber. You want to maintain a fine
balance between a low enough body temperature that’s conducive to sleep, and
one that’s also high enough so you don’t wake up from the cold.
Sleep
is a highly complicated—not to mention personal—process, which likely means
that the combination of factors causing your excessive heat is unique. Below are some of the most common that are
connected with hot sleepers (male and female):
·
The biggest
medical issue for people who sleep hot is menopause. More than 5,000 women
enter menopause per day in the US and Canada.
·
Prescription
medications like antidepressants and over the counter options like certain aspirin
and acetaminophen
·
Low blood sugar
related to diabetes
·
Rare conditions
like idiopathic hyperhidrosis where the body produces too much sweat
·
Eating
disorders, head trauma, and genetic disorders that cause the hypothalamus to
malfunction
·
Pregnancy
Here
are a few useable helps for a hot sleeper to finally cool down:
1.
Don’t point a fan directly at you as this will
create an uncomfortable breeze all night long. Instead, with the air flying
over you, your skin will breathe better while you sleep.
2.
It’s not always bad to eat before bed, as long as
you’re avoiding foods that could be increasing your body temperature and
contributing to your hot sleeper problems.
These foods
include processed and fatty foods (fast food, processed junk food, white bread),
caffeinated drinks (it should probably go without saying coffee will not help
you sleep), excess sodium, spicy foods (although these can also make you cool
down during hot days from sweat evaporation), alcoholic beverages, onions,
garlic, and even ice cream (due to the fat content), according to the source.
Try to avoid
eating large meals at night, so your metabolism doesn’t have to work as hard.
Raw fruits and vegetables require less metabolic energy to digest than proteins
and fats, so they can make great choices for evening snacks.
3. People who use traditional body moisturizers at bedtime might be
contributing to their hot sleep, and that they should replace them with a
“cooling aloe vera product”. This lowers your overall skin temperature, it
adds.
4. The colors in your bedroom might be tricking your brain into thinking
it’s warmer than it actually is. Warm colors are reds, dark oranges, and in
some cases even green or yellow. Try switching to lighter shades of green,
blues, browns and gold to create a feeling of coolness in the room.
5.
The ideal sleeping temperature is 70 degrees.
Sleep
in a climate controlled setting that favors cooler
rather than warmer temperatures.
6. While the term “hot sleeper”
might be difficult to find in a medical manual, there is definitely a lot of
buzz attached to the term right now, and ways to alleviate overheating during
the night (usually with breathable sheets). Let’s take a closer look at six
factors that could be causing you to run hot or cold during the night…
“When vultures sleep at night, they drop their
body temperature. During the day, they
spread their wings to raise their body temperature.” (Harry Harnish)[i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“25
Hot Sleeper Solutions for Sleeping Better” by Derek Lakin
·
“Don’t Sweat These 6 Facts about Hot and Cold
Sleepers” by Jeff Hayward
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